Defense In Addison Slayings Seeks Ruling

Defense attorneys for the three people charged in the slayings of an Addison woman and her two children took aim Wednesday at hearsay evidence that could come up in the trial.

They were attempting to exclude testimony from people who may have talked to Joshua Evans, 7, after he had possibly seen his mother, Debra Evans, and his 10-year-old sister, Samantha, slain.

Attorneys for the defendants, Laverne Ward, Fedell Caffey and Jacqueline Williams, said they want a pretrial hearing to limit prosecutors in their attempts to introduce the testimony at the trials. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the death penalty if the defendants are convicted.

The three are accused of breaking into the Evans' apartment in November, killing Debra and Samantha Evans, crudely cutting open Debra Evans' womb and delivering the baby boy and then kidnapping the newborn and Joshua.

The 7-year-old reportedly was taken to an apartment in Villa Park, occupied by an acquaintance of Williams.

Prosecutors say that the next day, after several attempts to kill Joshua, he was stabbed to death and his body was dumped in a Maywood alley.

Prosecutors have been mute on the issue of whom Joshua talked to, but John Kinsella, deputy chief criminal prosecutor, told DuPage Judge Peter Dockery that the hearsay evidence is from "the kidnapping victim" who "made statements to a member or members of a household."

Hearsay evidence, in which a witness testifies about what another person said, usually is not allowed. But because the main witness, Joshua, is deceased, a judge has discretion on the issue.

According to law enforcement sources, Williams showed up at a Parliament Square apartment in Villa Park, covered with blood and clutching a tired and frightened little boy. Williams told whoever was in the apartment that the boy's mother had been shot in a drug deal, sources said.

At the request of prosecutors and defense attorneys, the names of all witnesses have been sealed from the public.

It is believed that Joshua told someone in the Villa Park apartment that his "mommy and sister" had been hurt, that he was scared, and that the three defendants had been at his apartment and were involved in the incident, sources said.

At the time of the slayings, Williams and Caffey lived together and knew Ward, a former boyfriend of Debra Evans and the father of Evans' 1-year-old son, Jordan.

Dockery set June 3 to hear preliminary pretrial motions and set June 24 to begin hearing testimony about the motion to exclude the hearsay evidence.